Global News

[ad_1] Planetary scientist Alan Stern, who spearheaded NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto, enjoyed a spaceflight of his own Thursday, soaring to the edge of space and back aboard Virgin Galactic's winged spaceplane, chalking up the company's fifth commercial sub-orbital flight . Stern, researcher and STEM "influencer" Kellie Gerardi, Italian investment manager Ketty Maisonrouge, two Virgin Galactic pilots and a company trainer were carried aloft by a carrier jet that released the Unity spaceplane at an altitude of about 44,700 feet above the New Mexico desert. The hybrid motor powering Virgin Galactic's Unity spaceplane ignites high above New Mexico Thursday, propelling the craft to the lower edge of space in the company's tenth sub-orbital flight out of the discernible atmosphere. Virgin Galactic At the controls were Unity commande

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: Isro is gearing up for the launch of PSLV-C55 mission next week and the lift-off is likely on April 22. Unlike previous launches, this launch is unique as integration of different stages of the rocket has been done in an innovative way to help reduce time in the assembly process. The PSLV-C55 is also the first rocket to be integrated at the new PSLV Integration Facility (PIF) and is said it will put a Singaporean satellite in space . During previous PSLV missions, the entire space vehicle was integrated at the first launchpad with the help of the Mobile Service Tower (MST). However, Isro is following a new approach with the PSLV-C55 mission as the first and second stages will be integrated at the PIF centre and will be transferred to the first launch pad via the new mobile launch pedestal (MLP). The new approach will allow the partial integration of a PSLV vehicle even if the first launch pad has been preoccupied with another launch and thus helps increase the

[ad_1] Indian-origin British satellite industry expert Aarti Holla-Maini has been appointed by the United Nations secretary general as director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in Vienna. The UNOOSA is an office of the UN secretariat that promotes and facilitates peaceful international cooperation in outer space. It works to strengthen legal and regulatory frameworks for space activities and assists developing countries in using space science and technology for sustainable socio-economic development. Aarti, who has roots in Punjab and knows five languages, including Punjabi, will succeed Simonetta Di Pippo of Italy. Aarti, who holds a bachelor’s degree in law with German law from King’s College London and a master's degree in business administration from French business school HEC Paris, spent over 18 years as the secretary-general of the Global Satellite Operators Association. She has 25 years of experience in the aerospace industry, starting

[ad_1] MOSCOW : An uncrewed Russian supply ship docked at the International Space Station has lost cabin pressure, the Russian space corporation reported Saturday, saying the incident doesn't pose any danger to the station's crew. Roscosmos said the hatch between the station and the Progress MS-21 had been locked so the loss of pressure didn't affect the orbiting outpost. "The temperature and pressure on board the station are within norms and there is no danger to health and safety of the crew," it said in a statement. The space corporation didn't say what may have caused the cargo ship to lose pressure. Roscosmos noted that the cargo ship had already been loaded with waste prior to its scheduled disposal. The craft is set to be undocked from the station and deorbit to burn in the atmosphere on Feb. 18. The announcement came shortly after a new Russian cargo ship docked smoothly at the station on Saturday. The Progress MS-22 delivered almost three

[ad_1] BEIJING: China will start building relay satellites that by 2030 will act as a communication bridge between missions to the moon and beyond, and ground operations on Earth , Chinese state media reported on Wednesday. A pilot of the satellite constellation will support China's ongoing lunar exploration programme and the building of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing Wu Yanhua , chief designer of China's deep space exploration project. To kick off the building of the constellation - called Queqiao-2, or Magpie Bridge-2, named after a bridge made up of magpies in a Chinese myth - a communications relay satellite between the far side of the moon and Earth will be launched in 2024 to support uncrewed lunar missions this decade. That year, China plans to launch the Chang 'e-6 mission to retrieve lunar samples from an ancient basin in the far side of the moon. The Chang'e-7 mission will be launched ar

[ad_1] Nasa scientists have spotted a massive black region on the Sun, which is 20 times larger than Earth. The appearance of the “coronal hole” has prompted US federal agency National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to sound out an alert for geomagnetic storms as the gaping hole is unleashing 1.8 million mile-per-hour solar winds towards Earth , which will impact the planet on Friday. Scientists are closely monitoring the situation to see if the winds will impact the Earth's magnetic field, satellites and technology. This was the second hole to appear in one week. Both holes were captured by Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which studies the Sun. The latest hole was discovered on March 23 near the Sun’s South Pole. The “hole” isn't really a hole, but a large region much cooler than the rest of the Sun, causing it to appear black. “Coronal holes are magnetically open areas that are one source of high-speed solar wind. They appear dark when viewed in many

[ad_1] Bengaluru: The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has begun work on creating standards that private space tech players will be recommended to follow in procurement, manufacturing and operations. The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) is part of a committee set up by BIS , which will also have other stakeholders. “As part of the committee set up for creation of these standards, IN-SPACe is drafting the standards that will be submitted to the BIS which will then go through a process of vetting it and then introducing them,” said IN-SPACe chairman Pawan Goenka. Once this is notified, he said, it would be recommended by the BIS that private industries follow these standards. The objective is that the industries should have access to these standards, which as on date aren’t available to them as these are internal Isro standards. “It is expected that the industries would follow this for their own good, but these will only be recommended at the m